It’s always nice when our old gadgets and toys get some modern upgrades, but some things just should not be changed. The Etch-A-Sketch Freestyle gets rid of the traditional 2 controller knob design in favor of a single knob that can swivel 360 degrees.

I don’t know about you, but somehow this design feels like cheating. Half the fun of the classic version is that it requires some skill to use it. This is no Etch A Sketch.

Put the video games down and play some Portable Air Hockey instead. This is a portable version that comes with an integrated fan within the puck, allowing it to float across a table or flat surface easily. All you need to figure out is how wall off the sides of your table so you aren’t breaking things.

Portable Air Hockey will cost you $14.99. For that price you get a puck, paddles and a set of nets. Sounds like a lot of fun.

[red ferret]

If you are a big fan of Star Trek and have been counting the days until the new flick hit DVD, you will like the news of the new MMORPG as well. The new game is called Star Trek Online and it has been given an official launch date.

The game will debut on February 2, 2010 for Trekkies the world over to play. The game promises space and ground-based play and lets users fully customize not only their characters and uniforms, but starships as well.

Back in July we told you about some cool Pac-Man lighters that celebrate the 30th anniversary of the yellow dot-gobbler. But now we have word that there are more awesome designs being offered.

This limited-edition series of Zippo lighters from Banpresto includes shiny, butane-filled versions of Pac-Man,(Which we’ve seen) along with Galaxian, Xevious and Dig Dug. Each features the likeness of the classic 8-bit game. Even if you don’t smoke, you’ll want these awesome collectibles.

Back in May we told you about the augmented reality game for the DSi, Ghostwire: Link to the Paranormal. The Ghostwire title had been previously unveiled, but Majesco has just signed on to publish it.

The game uses the DSi’s camera and microphone to allow you to hunt ghosts like those schmucks on TV. Once the ghost or ghosts are detected, it’s the player job to hunt down objects to make them rest in peace.

Add this one to the growing line of crappy novelty controllers. It’s a fire dragon for all of you D and D type dudes and dudettes who like to prance around in Elven armor and decorate your place with pewter trinkets.

It’s laid out like an XBox controller and you gotta love that “ergonomic design”. Apparently the tail is removable, so you can get all stabby with the guy playing next to you.

This game looks much more fun than Foosball. In MaruBot Football League four players control small wireless robots with joysticks. Each of the robots has an actual personality, with LED eyes that display whether they are happy or sad.

They are happy when they score a goal and sad if they lose. Why four players? The games makers see MaruBot as being all about “cooperation and partnership, minimizing individualism, isolation, violence of online games.” There’s also a two-player version. It’s a hit in Korea, so maybe one day we will see it here.

If you’ve been keeping up with the Jones’, you’ll want to make sure that you get every Wii peripheral they have as well. That includes the Wii Steering Wheel II. It’s available now for hardcore Wii Mario Kart enthusiasts.

I hear ya. How is this any different from the other Wii steering wheels? Well, it fits a Wiimote that is rocking the Motion Plus. Other than that, it’s the usual cheap plastic wiimote holder.

What are the two greatest things ever? Games and booze that’s what. What you are looking at is man’s best friend and I’m not talking about a dog. The Arkeg is an arcade game with a keg built in. It holds a 5-gallon keg and a PC that comes pre-loaded with 104 classic games.

Drink up my friends until up is down and down is up on that joystick. You’ll be blitzed by the light of a 24-inch screen, with a 2.1 sound system and a powered sub, along with two arcade controllers and a trackball.

I make my share of calls, send texts, and surf the Internet on my iPhone, but mostly I use the thing for playing games. I play way more games on my iPhone than I ever thought I would. With the iPhone being such a great gaming platform, I am always on the lookout for new games to try out. Today I am going to look at a game called Deer Hunter 3D. This game is one of my arcade favorites so read on for all the details on the Deer Hunter 3D for the iPhone.

Listen up frat boys and alcoholics. There’s a new game in town that aims to get you nice and plastered. It’s one part dice game and one part alcohol and goes by the appropriate name, Loaded Dice. The game is simple to play.

Just fill the shot glass, slam it down, do whatever the die tells you to do. The drunker you get, the easier it is to play and the less you care about the rules. Who’s ready for a game? I’ll take on all of you.

Who doesn’t love Donkey Kong? Who doesn’t want it on their wall? And let’s face it, any shelves you install are going to end up crooked as a 3 dollar bill. But when those shelves involve DK, crooked is ok. In fact, it’s mandatory to recreate the look of the game.

And this guy did it up right. He’s got all of the perfect nerd decor on them. The only thing missing is a wind-up Mario walking around swinging a hammer. You can almost hear the game sounds. We give these shelves two callused gaming thumbs up.

If you are still waiting for Tony Hawk: RIDE to get you moving in front of your console, we’re sorry to report that you still have a few months to ride the real thing while you wait.

The upcoming Tony Hawk game will use the new skateboard controller and go on sale November 17th for $120. Despite the fact that Amazon is still showing the release for mid October.

This Super Mario chess set is a little strange. The first thing I noticed was King Bowser and his Queen Koopa. Really? Queen Koopa? I thought he was a guy. What the hell is going on with those two? Maybe I missed something, or else I was busy playing games where people die horribly with gunfire. Wait, they have Luigi as Mario’s queen too…

Anyhow, you can’t call yourself a Super Mario fan unless you are playing chess with this collector’s edition chess set from USAopoly. You just might need some therapy after. The chess set includes 32 hand-painted figures from the game series including Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Toad, 1-up mushroom, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Birdo, Goomba, Hammer Bros., and Magikoopa.

I really liked Call of Duty: World at War on the PC. I didn’t buy the game on the PS3 or Xbox, but it is available on those systems as well. One of the things I like about the CoD franchise is that you can count on new maps being offered to keep the game fresh.

Activision has announced that the third map pack for World at War is now available for download on the PS3 and the Xbox. The map pack sells for $9.99 on the PS3 or 800 MS Points on the Xbox 360.